It was one of those nights where I just couldn’t stop my mind long enough to really get good sleep, so I got up and worked on more cards like the one I have in the upcoming video.  I really liked the look of it, and started by stamping a bunch of different colored card stock, so decided to finish those.  Of course, it never occurred to me that to finish them would mean using my die cutting machine, and since it’s electric, can be loud when used with dies….so I didn’t finish one, but am about 75% finished with three or four of them.

My girlfriend and I had planned on getting together today and having our Christmas gift exchange.  She and I try really hard to get the other something meaningful and special, and I really struggled this year.  You know you don’t have any ideas when you resort to considering buying pajamas, and that’s how desperate I was.

Hallmark stores sell a brand of jewelry that is similar to Pandora, called Davinci, and I have a couple of their bangles.  They have a screw that closes the bangle and holds the beads on, and one of my screw pieces came off and disappeared.  I don’t know how I manage to lose something like that, as it’s not a small piece, and I can’t understand why I didn’t hear it drop when it fell off.  OK, I’ll admit it.  I have two of these bangles, and I lost one screw piece from each of them.   I was on a mission to replace the screw piece, and found a retailer on Ebay that was selling off their inventory of beads.  They had a lot of pink stoned charms and my girlfriend’s birthday is in October, so pink is her birthstone.  As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to make her a bracelet.  Her twelve year old daughter is also an October baby, so they could share some of the charms.  The bracelet I made is really pretty and I was so happy with it.  I also made her the Christmas flip book album and made her daughter one of the book marks.

After our shopping trip, we opened our presents. She’d been giving me clues about mine, but I just couldn’t guess what it was.  She made me a sign that says “Crafting for Almost Everyone.”  I was so touched and she even copied the font I use for my channel.  I almost cried.  If you would ask my family, they will tell you that I am the hardest person to buy gifts for, but my friends always buy me things that I absolutely love.  In this case, she used treated wood, painted it white, and then used vinyl letters that look like paint..they’re even splotchy looking, like paint.  It’s unbelievably cool, and I’ll make sure to show it in an upcoming video.  Honestly, I can’t imagine a better gift.  I have some really great friends that I’ve had for a very long time, and I am blessed to have them.

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